Encoding movies on Linux for the N82

[ggking7]

Has anyone found a command that works on Linux to encode movies in a format that will work on the N82? I found two commands online, but the first fails to complete on 1 of the 2 movies I've tried, and audio doesn't work on the N82 with the second command, although it works when playing back the encoded file on the computer.

mencoder -of lavf -lavfopts format=mp4 -oac lavc -ovc lavc -lavcopts aglobal=1:vglobal=1:acodec=libfaac:abitrate=128:vc odec=mpeg4:keyint=25 -af lavcresample=44100 -vf harddup,scale=320:-3 -mc 0 -noskip "source.mpg" -o "destination.mp4"

ffmpeg -y -i "source.mpg" -acodec libfaac -ab 72k -s 320x176 -aspect 16:9 -vcodec libx264 -b 300k -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 16 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -subq 7 -refs 6 -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -sc_threshold 40 -me_range 12 -i_qfactor 0.71 -directpred 3 "destination.mp4"

Has anyone found something reliable?

[ziggyball]

Does it need to be command-line?

Avidemux is a fantastic conversion program and works well on linux.

If you want some help with the exact settings let me know. (RealPlayer on the S60 is sooooo fussy with codec specifics - You need baseline h264 or simple-profile xvid, with aac audio, in an MP4 wrapper)

[tnek]

I just want to say I'm also interested in this. And preferably a command line version (as I find it easier to apply multiple times, automatically etc). Those conversion command line tools are quite complex, if I find anything I'll post it and otherwise I'll lurk around this thread. :)

[Homer]

Originally Posted by ggking7

Has anyone found something reliable?

You are probably missing some codec, what flavour of Linux is it?

If it's ubuntu try the adding the medibuntu repository, also look for "plugins-ugly" in synaptics.

[ggking7]

You think it's a missing codec? 1 of the 2 videos I tried worked perfectly. I use Gentoo and I have gst-plugins-ugly installed.

[ggking7]

ziggyball, I just tried avidemux with MPEG-4 AVC (x264) and AAC (FAAC) but the N82 says "Unable to open clip". Any idea what I need to fix?

[ziggyball]

First, as an aside I have noticed that the *very* latest builds ~4499 create MP4 files which my N85 doesn't like - although they run fine on my N95 - so your N82 should be ok with all builds. Certainly v2.4.3 build 4276 is stable and creates most compatible MP4s.

So, for the best h264 encode...

Select MPEG-4 AVC (x264)
Then in Configure:
Set the Encoding mode to Constant Bitrate
Set Target bitrate to about 500kb/s
Under Misc, you need to untick CABC
In Partition Macroblocks, untick everything except 4x4 UntraSearch
In B-frames, untick everything and set everything to None, 0 or disabled (N95/N85 don't support any kind of B-frames)

Then select whichever video filters you want as long as you end up with a 320x240 output (de-interlacing if needed)

In the audio, select AAC (FACC) I tend to use 96kb/s
The audio filters you use (if any) will depend on the input audio (check menu audio option 'Main Track'). You 'might' need mix it down to stereo if the input audio is multi-channel.

Then select MP4 Format and off you go ;)
I know this isn't exactly point and click but it does give a high level of control...

[ggking7]

Thanks ziggyball, I get sound with your settings but it's way out of sync with the video when I play it back on the computer. When I play it back on the N82, the same 60 seconds or so of sound seems to repeat throughout the video. Very weird. The source .mpg plays back on the computer perfectly. Does any of this ring a bell for you?

[ziggyball]

Hmmm, ggking7, this is an interesting problem.

You could try using avidemux to save the audio as a WAV (set audio to WAV PCM and go to audio=>save) and inspect whether the WAV is complete or repeating or too fast/slow. If it *is* then transcoding it will be more tricky. If it's okay, then try using the wav as the source of the audio.

The hammer to crack a nut solution to this would be to save the audio as a wav. Then encode the resulting wav as an aac/m4a and mux back into your final mp4 using somthing like yamb.

Of course the best thing is just to get avidemux working correctly with the mpg! If you go to the toolbar and select audio=>main-track, what are the details? If there is a shift reported in the audio you have to compensate for it in the shift setting in Audio filters.

Can I ask what the mpg is that you're trying to covert? What other files if any have you tried?

Cheers :-)

[ggking7]

I've actually got it working with h264enc now. It has 2 built-in S60 presets and they work great. Thank you for your help.